Need a sticker for your banjo case? We’ve got ’em.
When I was spending time at my parent’s home in Franklin, North Carolina, I came across a record by “The Dry Branch String Band.” They had a regular gig in The Smoky Mountain National Park. The band would entertain the “folks” from the front porch of an old cabin in a refurbished “pioneer” village.
They had a line-up of a guitar, banjo, and two fiddles. As far as I could tell, they were the “real deal” when it came to backwoods-front porch string band music, playing tunes like “Bill Cheathem”, “Handsome Molly”, and “Arkansas Traveler.”
The way that “Arkansas Traveler” is performed by a traditional string band is to play the first section of the tune, stop, then tell a joke through a dialogue between two band members. Some examples:
Person 1 – “You know, your wife’s dress is awful short.”
Person 2 – “Yep, and it’ll be long enough before she can buy another one!”
(Tune starts, then stops, then):
Person 1 – “How deep is that creek over yonder? Can I cross it?”
Person 2 – I reckon you can. The ducks crossed it today, and it came up to them ducks’ necks.”
(Tune starts, then stops, then):
Person 1 – “Ya’ know, there aint much between you and a fool!”
Person 2 – “Naw, just a guitar and a banjer!”
(etc…)
It was the way he said “banjer” that just stuck with me. I love the sound of southern dialects and I believe western North Carolina is the creme de la creme. My wife is thoroughly convinced that if I were to spend just three weeks interacting with the locals in Franklin, NC, I would have a full accent and probably never go back to talking “Upstate New York” jargon.
Throughout my adult life, I’ve played many gigs on guitar, but when the person who called me for the gig somehow found out that I played banjo as well, they would often say, “Bring your banjo too.” If we were going to some party or picnic, the host would often say, “Hey Jeff, bring your banjo!”
Sometimes “bringing the banjo” was a good idea, and other times it went over like bad cholesterol. I usually had an inkling if “bringing the banjo” was appropriate or not for a particular function, but if someone insisted, I (sometimes begrudgingly) brought it out of courtesy for the request.
And so as time went on, it was inevitable that “bring your banjo” would morph into “bring yer banjer!” Based on my past experience amongst the North Carolina folks that saying of “Bring yer banjer” just found its way into my vernacular. It helped me deal with bringing the banjo even if I was pretty sure that it wasn’t such a great of idea.
Somehow, I repeated that phrase of “Bring yer banjer” often enough that me and my wife thought of creating a sticker to that effect.
After some basic drawings were created for our “mountain man” character, we got ahold of a professional artist on Fiverr to “finish the job” and the “Bring Yer Banjer” sticker was born. I (of course) have one on my banjo case, and you too can be the proud owner of one!
They are for sale on the website “Red Bubble” and come in 4 sizes – small, medium, large and extra large – and – in either glossy, matte or transparent. Here I am with mine which is a medium (4.3 x 5.5 inches) glossy.
Here is what the small size ( 3 x 3.8 inches) looks like in comparison. I’m thinking of upgrading to a large (6.7 x 8.5 inches) – god knows what the extra large (11 x 14) is like LOL.
An important note – the “saying” is in black letters so if you want it to show up on a black case better order the glossy or matte background NOT the transparent or you won’t be able to read it. Transparent is good light colored backgrounds.
Here is the link to order them – Red Bubble often has sales – so keep an eye out for those – and they ship in 100% recyclable cardboard.
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/p/41213372.JCQM3?asc=u
So the next time I come to your neighborhood, just go ahead and say it, “Bring Yer Banjer”, and I will be happy to comply (unless it’s a classical music crowd!).
Here is the best version of the song with jokes that I could find. Unfortunately, the version I remember (“Banjer”) from visiting North Carolina has been lost with the passage of time.
